Apparatus for measuring and indicating blood-pressure.



F. A. FAUGHT. v

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDIGATING 131.001) PRESSURE.

APPLICATION I'ILED'JULY 27, 1908.

Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

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ATTORNEY F. A. FAUGHT. I APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDIGATING BLOOD PRESSURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1908.

latented Apr. 6, 1909 ll TTORIVE).

2 SEEBTS-SHEET 2 WITNESSES: m zwu mkllg/ UNITED sTATEs PATENT orr on.

FRANcIs' SHLEY FAUGHT, OF PHILAn PHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, 'AssIeNon' To GEORGE r. FILLING AND soN coMrANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A oonPoR 'rIoN or PENNSYLVANIA.

- APPARATUS non mastmm'e'mzo mmcxrme moon-reassures.-

To all whom it'mwy concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS Asrmnr' Favor-r1, citizenofthe United States, residing .in the-city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new. and usetulflm )rovements in. Apparatus for l'leas'uringand' Indicating Blood-Pressure, of whichrtliefollowing is' a full, clear, and exact" description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this "specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for use in pathological diagnosis, for measuringand indicating; the degree-sot blood pressure in anyarterybf'the human body to which a tourniquet; may be applied, to determine it as a cl nical. 'factor in aid of correctldiagnosis, pro nosis and treatment, especially in cases of diseases of the blood and blood vascular systemrapparatus of this type beingof constriction, indicating thereby that the air-pressure in such pneumatic system is, under the condition stated, greater than the blood pressure in the artery back of the coustriction, such pressure being ascertainable by reference toa'scale marked on or opera tively attached to said manometer, then, it said air-pressure is ,qgradually released, through appropriate valvular means, from said tubular connect-ion,- such gradual re duction of pressure will be indicated on said manometer scale and will reach.- a point where it will exactly equal the blood-pressure in the artery, determinable by vthe gfirst; pulse heat which can be "felt.,--beyond,the

' gradually released constriction;

scribedhaving as its. primary object, the

' My invention is of an apparatus operating on this principle aiid consists, of thegseyeral elements, in combination, hereinafter de-L exemplifica-tion of the principle stated and" I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 27, 1908. Serial No. 446,530.

Patented April 6,1909.

as'its secondary object to provide compact instrument with no detachable parts to be manometer can be confined against exposure and loss when the instrument is not, in use; wherein the millimeter scale is adjustable relatively to the manometer and to'the mer in reading the diastolic reading; and finally ,wherein the instrument proper is operatively mounted on'the inner face of the pivotally com'iected lid of a containing casing whereby .the manometer and rigid tubular connections are suitably supported, in a vertical position whlle in use,-and.wholly contained within the casing when, not in use, with the incidental results of decrease in weight and bulkiness'and consequent port-ability, with increased facility in preparing the instrument for use.

1 In the a-ccon'ipanying drawings illustrat 111g my invention z-F1gure 11s a front or end elevation, partly in section, with the lid otthe casing in raised position. Fig. 2 a like side yiew; Fig is a longitudinal seetional View of the air-pressure releasing valve in the rigid. tubular connection leadlng to and from the manmneter, and Fig. l is a sectional view of the Market and screw governing the adjustability of the sliding scale piece.

Referring now to said drawings, in which the containing casing is shown as open. with the. lid raised and the instrument ready for use. the casing; A is in the form of a rectangular box of sutiicient length, width and depth to hold the l'l'ltlIlOllltPl'El' and adjunctire parts, and has a covering lid A hinged near one. of its ends. to the side walls of the box A, as at a, and furthermore provided, be tween one or both of its said long sides or walls and those oi the lid. with a link brace H sliding on a l'llllllll)-S(f-1'W H, where- ;by th e lid can be supported, during the operation of the instrumeiul, in a perpendicular position. at right-angles to the baseof the :box, and. maintained. remoi'ably, in that p0;

sition,- by tightening the thnmbrscrew,

lid. o flcm'er is a mercury manometer B onsisting of a glass tube bent to a U-shape,

lost orbroken; wherein the mercury in the ,cury column therein, with increasedfacility Mounted on the inner face of the hinged pointing ,uynvard. The upper ends of the 3 arms of the mercury tube are each gm-ernedg -to open or to close. them, by a stop-cock device, indicated at 0'. These preserve the mercury from exposure and prevent its escape from the manometer when .ithe la-tter' is in horizontal position due to tlie'lowering of the hinged lid to close the casing when connection with a thumb-screw S, to hold the pressure-scale board 0, which is. a thin narrow board on which is marked a pressure scale in millimeters, beginning with zero at the basal end and is to be adjusted initially to bring the zero mark opposite the normal level of the mercury in the manometer tube.

The pressure scale board C is made of a width to fit snugly, but slidingly, between the two arms of the manometer tube, with its back resting against the supporting lid A, hence it is maintained in position by a frictional hold, yet treeto he slid up and down,

'ior adjustment purposes, and when so adjusted may be held fixedly for thetime being, by turning the thumb-screw S mounted on the bracket 13 This screw Si. shown in section in Fig. 4;, and is preferably provided at; its point with a: rubber washer or head 8 to bear against the face of the scale -C without scratching it. Other equivalentholdingmeans as a substitute for screw S may however be employed, as is obvious.

The stop cocks r: are to be turned to open position, when the lid is raised and the instrument put in operation; thereby leaving the end of the let'thand mercury column open to the atmosphere and therighthand column in connnunication only with the interior of th tubular fittings of the manometer. These fittings constitute an essen tial feature of the invented device-and consist of a rigid metallic tubing (Z mounted on the face of the lidA by a pair of brackets (1'. (P. This rigid tubing (Z is provided at its extreme lower end with a nipple e to which is attached a flexible tube leading to a tourniquet or constriction device. Just above the n pplea, in the length of the rigid tubing (Z, it is provided with a stop cock 0 carrying on'its end a nipple=e"to which is attached another flexible tube f leading to a bellows; thus the rigid tubing (:7 becomes the only means of tubular connection between the bellows, as a source of supply of air-pressure, the tourniquet as the means of applied constriction. and the mercury in the manometer tube; in other words constitutes a closed pneumatic circuit between those points, hence degrees of airpressm-e applied. through the tourniduet, at-

the inner elastic tube n and consequent.- loss above the nipples c and e with a'sensit-ive the point'of constriction, act directly on the mercury in the manometer tube and are indicated on the pressure scale accordingly. 7 Any usual rubber bellows, such-as indicated at M,is attached to'the opposite end of the flexible tube f, to create the supply of airpressure desired. A. tubular rubber band-' age. operating as a compressor or tourniquet, and-indicated at N, is to be applied to the limb to be constricted and stop the flow of blood through it, and the compression is effected by air driven into the interior of this tubular bandage through the lower end of the ri id tube (Z from the bellows and its' tube f through the nipple 1'. I prefer to make this constriction device N in. a" particular manner, namely, a flat strip ot leather indicated at n has mounted on itsv face, in the nature of a lining, an inflatable rubber bag, normally flat, indicated at n. Loops and straps, such as Ii and 1?. respectively, areprovided to jt'astenthe tourniquet in position around the arm or,l egofthe patient, with the inflatable. bag against the SlllfflCQ of the limb, hence the lnelastic outer strap :11 exerts a bindin pressure against the limb of the patient when its tubular lining isinllated, sufficientto stop the flow ogt' blood and also prevents undue expansion of of attained pressure after the requisite inflation necessary to a complete constriction has been attained.

Having obtained and noted the air-pressure at which the flow of blood in the artery is stopped. it is essential to bring it into equilibrio with the natural pressure in the artery. This is attained by supplying the rigid tubular connection d at a point therein valve ii'idicated at h in Figs. 1 and 2. The stop cock 0 on nipple a. governing the source of air-pressure supply, being closed, the needle alve h governs communication between the constriction tube and the ma- 1 nometer tube, asthe only means of escape of air-pressure frdm both. A needle valve of "any ordinary construction may be employed, but I preier to use the form shown 111 section in Fi 3. in which 71, is an air-esca in -1 h x b passage, and It" a screw plug, carrying a screw It, the face of the, plug normally bearing against the end of the air-passage in the valvebody /1. And the object in using a needle valve or other sensitive valve of the 1 class is to effect a gradual rather than a quick release of the air-pressure in the manometer tube. The operation of the instrument is as follows:-Opening the casing by its lid A to' 1 perpendicular position (as seen in Fig. 2) brings the manometer B into operative position, in which itis temporarily supported by the link-brace H. The constricting device being then applied to the limb of the 1 ,Patienh'the cocks c and opened, the needle valvejt closed, and the bellows tube and the tourniquet tube being each attached to its appropriate nipple, on the metallic tubing Z of the manometer tube, the bellows is then operated to apply the constriction and also force air against the mercury in the manometer tube. When, by noting an obliteration: ofthe pulse the operator has ascertained -on the tubular communication with the belthat constriction is, complete, the cock 6 lows is closed and the sensitive air-escape valve h is opened to gradually allow an escape through it, of the accumulated pneumatic pressure, whereupon the mercury column will be acted on as also the constriction, and wherilthe first pulse beat is felt by the operator the artery pressure will be in equilibrio with the airpressure in the manometer and the mercury level therein will be opposite a figure on the scale which will accurately indicate the "systolic pressure in millimeters of mercury. The diastolic pressure may also be determined by the instrument, as will be obvious to persons skilled in the use of instruments of this class;

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 1; Apparatus for measuring and indicating blood pressure, comprising in combina tion a fluid, manometer, a pressure scale,

. rigid tubular means in communication with the manometer fluid, a suitable supporting frame. 011 which said elements are operatively mounted, a'tourniquet and means to supply air pressure, with independent flexible tubular connections leading from the tourniquet and the source of air-pressure, respectively, to said rigid tubular means leading to the manometer, means to close the source of air pressure supply, and means to release the excess of air-pressure after constriction of the artery.

, 2. Apparatus of the character recited comprising in combination a supporting frame and a manometer operatively mounted thereon in perpendicular position, a pressure scale adjustably supported on said frame relatively to the manometer, rigid tubular means in direct communication with the manometer and mounted fixedly on said .frame in parallelism with the manometer, a

tourniquet and means to supply air under pressure, a flex ble tubular COIIDQClLlOll, be-.

an. air-pressure scale piece held slidingly between the arms of said manometer, means to adjustably hold the same, a rigid tubular manometer fitting mounted on said supporting frame in parallelism with the contiguous manometer tube, and in communication therewith, a tourniquet and a flexible tubular connection between, the sameand the basal end of said rigid tubular fitting, a nipple carrying a stop cock, on said'fitting, means leading thereto adapted to supply air pressure, and a sensitive valve in said rigid tubular fitting operating to relieve the excess pressure in the pneumatic circuit after constriction of the artery has been completed, and bring it into equilibrio with the artery pressure.

4. Apparatus of the character recited comprising in combination a containing casing of rectangular form in planular outline, a lid pivoted near one of its ends to the said casing, means to operatively support the lid in a perpendicular position, a manometer tube fixedly mounted in vertical position on the face of said lid, valvular means govern ing the end ofthe manometer, a pressurescale piece mounted vertically adjustable on said lid in appropriate relation to the manometer tube, a rigid tubular fitting mounted fixedly on said lid in parallelism with the contiguous manometer tube, a sensitive valve therein, a nipple onsaid fitting, a valve to govern it, a source of air-pressure supply With tubular means leading to said nipple,

and a tourniquet with flexible tubular means between it and the rigid tubular' fitting of the 'manometer 5. Apparatus'of the character recited com prising in combination a supporting frame,

a manometer, rigid tubular fittings therefor and a pressure scale piece, said elements being mounted on said frame in contiguous and operative relation, a nipple \Vltl] a cock governing the same, on said rigid tubular fitting, and means mounted on said nipple to supply air-pressure through thesame, said tubular fitting being also provided with valvular means to discharge excess pressure 'therein,-and another nipple, a flexible tube leading therefrom, and a constricting device operating as a tourniquet and consisting of a band of non-elastic material with a lining in the form of an elongated bag with the mouth of which'said flexible tube communicates and means on said band adapted to detachably strap the device inoperative posi: ti on on thelimb of the patient. 4 i

In testimony whereof, I l'IHXe hereunto affixed my signature this 23rd day of July A. D. 1908.

FRAN CIS ASHLEY FAUGHT. \Vitnesses: I

A. M. BIDDLE, R; A. DUNLAP. 

